A FLORIST was today a step closer to winning a £1 million World Cup jackpot after Spain beat Slovenia 3-1 in their opening group match.

A FLORIST was today a step closer to winning a &#xA3;1 million World Cup jackpot after Spain beat Slovenia 3-1 in their opening group match.

Adrian Fitzpatrick will pull off the UK's most profitable soccer bet and scoop &#xA3;945,000 if 8-1 shots Spain win this summer's World Cup.

Mr Fitzpatrick, from Solihull, West Midlands, staked &#xA3;40,000 with William Hill in March when he backed Arsenal to win the Premier-ship and Spain to win the World Cup.

Spain also have to play group matches against Paraguay and South Africa but, after today's victory, they top the group.

If his bet is successful, the flower seller would more than double the &#xA3;400,000 pay-out he scooped from Hill's during the 1994 World Cup.

He lost his crown as Britain's biggest winner on a single football bet last May when a Lichfield man won &#xA3;500,000 from a 30p wager.

William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said, "Adrian is now determined to regain the title of the country's most successful ever soccer gambler - if he does, we'll be asking him to make us a wreath," he said.

"It's a substantial bet and certainly in my career in the business, which goes back over 30 years now, I am not aware of any one man landing &#xA3;1 million on a football bet.

"This bet would not quite hit the million mark, but if you add on what he has won before it would put him in a league of his own."